This proposal is aimed at testing a novel hypothesis that chemicals that can preferentially stimulate the metabolic conversion of estradiol (E2) and its hydroxylated metabolites (such as 4-OH-E2 and 16alpha-OH-E1) to inactive, water-soluble conjugates would be better and safer inhibitors of E2-induced cancer than inducers of estrogen oxidative metabolism. On the basis of our recent data on the preferential stimulatory effect of dietary dibenzoylmethane (DAM) on E2 conjugative metabolism in human mammary cells and in animals, we propose the following four Specific Aims for our initial testing of this novel hypothesis.
Aim 1 : To study dietary DBM and its analogs for their activity in inducing the enzymes for estrogen conjugation (glucuronidation, sulfation, and O-methylation) vs oxidation in non-neoplastic AG11134 human mammary epithelial cells by using biochemical assays and Northern blot analysis.
Aim 2 : To study strong dietary inducers identified under Aim 1 for their activity in inducing estrogen conjugation in liver, breast, and uterus of female ACI rats.
Aim 3 : To compare the effects of strong inducers of estrogen conjugation with indole-3-carbinol (a prototypical dietary inducer of estrogen oxidation) on the metabolic fate of E2 and 4-OH-E2 (a representative bioactive hydroxyestrogen metabolite) in blood and target organs of female ACI rats.
Aim 4 : To compare the effects of an identified inducer of estrogen conjugative metabolism with indole-3-carbinol on the mitogenic actions of E2 and 4-OH-E2 in the breast and uterus of female rats, and to compare their efficacies in the prevention of estrogen-induced mammary tumors in female ACI rats. We predict that an inducer of estrogen conjugative metabolism will have a much higher cancer-preventive efficacy than an inducer of estrogen oxidative metabolism under conditions where estrogen's hormonal activity is equally inhibited. These hypothesis-driven, mechanism-based studies will lead to the development of an effective, novel strategy for dietary or phytochemical-based prevention of estrogen-induced human cancers. These studies will also provide examinations of the important roles of bioactive estrogen metabolites (e.g., 4-OH-E2 and 16alpha-OH-E2) in estrogen-induced cancers.
